Kaivopuisto has a long tradition of hosting a wide range of events. Its most famous events are probably the Elmu Folk Festival and the Helsinki Day concerts. The biggest events in Kaivopuisto in recent years have been the Air Show in 2021 and the annual May Day picnic. Several running events have also been organised in the park. Now, Kaivopuisto has a completely new event concept in the form of a musical.
Helsinki wants to delight and enliven the city with new event concepts
The City of Helsinki has drawn up a Tourism and Events Programme for 2022–2026. In accordance with the programme, the city’s attractiveness will be promoted by investing in attracting international tourists and strengthening its eventfulness. Eventfulness plays an important role in increasing the vibrancy and vitality of Helsinki. New event concepts in unusual locations contribute to making Helsinki an interesting and vibrant city.
With the musical, the City of Helsinki wants to test the functionality of Kaivopuisto as an event venue in close cooperation with event organiser Live Nation. The aim is also to strengthen Helsinki’s brand as a city of distinctive and insightful events.
- In connection with the musical performances, the City of Helsinki also gathers experiences of how Kaivopuisto nowadays functions as a stage for events, both from the point of view of the audience and the residents of the surrounding area, says Mari Randell, Director of Customer Relations at the Helsinki Urban Environment Division.
A temporary event stage was built in Kaivopuisto
Kaivopuisto is the perfect setting for the story of the original West End musical featuring Abba’s hit songs. The audience can watch the performances from a large stage and screens from reserved seats. The open-air theatre in Kaivopuisto also offers a variety of food and drinks.
- We have for a long time wanted to bring performances to the finest park in Helsinki. The possibility to transform the picturesque environment of Kaivopuisto into an open-air theatre is a truly wonderful occasion for us; Mamma Mia’s friends all over Finland are delighted. It is great to be able to offer the world’s most successful musical on warm July days in a lush, summery park, says Scott Lavender, Live Nation promoter.
The Mamma Mia! musical premiered in London in April 1999. More than 65 million people have seen it so far in 16 languages. The musical was first seen in Finland in 2007 when 75,000 people watched the show over a period of three weeks. Finland’s Mamma Mia! Under the Starry Sky performances are part of an international tour. The show is produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus in association with Universal and NGM.
The first performance of the musical was held on Thursday, 13 July at 19:00. The performances end before 22:00 and are in English.
Updated 21.7.2023